Reconstruction of the Kap København formation two million years ago at a time when the temperature was significantly warmer than the far north of Greenland today. 1 credit A new ‘game-changing’ chapter in evolutionary history has been opened after two million years DNA DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule made up of two long …
‘Revolutionary’ discovery of world’s oldest DNA breaks million-year record Read More »
December 7 update: The first of several March to Opposition webcasts will begin tonight, Dec. 7 at 9 p.m. EST (02:00 Dec. 8 GMT) and you can watch it live above. The livestream will show views of Mars and the moon from the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. This week offers multiple opportunities to get …
Watch Mars get eclipsed by the moon tonight on a free webcast Read More »
Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan is covered in moon dust after the mission’s second moonwalk. On December 14, 1972, Cernan took his last steps on the moon and no one has returned since. NASA/JSC hide caption toggle caption NASA/JSC Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan is covered in moon dust after the mission’s second moonwalk. On …
50 years after the last Apollo astronauts went to the moon, NASA is finally coming back Read More »
Enlarge / One of the faults in the Cerebrus Fossae region, potentially created by stretching of the crust driven by a mantle plume. The Mars InSight lander included the first seismograph placed on the Red Planet, and it captured everything from earthquakes to impacts and provided plenty of new information about Mars’ interior. But perhaps …
Mars tremors and recent volcanism suggest Mars still has a mantle plume Read More »
Charles Darwin believed that evolution created “the most beautiful infinite forms”. It’s a nice feeling, but it doesn’t explain why evolution keeps making crabs. Scientists have long wondered if there are limits to what evolution can do or if Darwin had the right idea. The truth may lie somewhere in between. While there doesn’t appear …
Crabs aren’t the only things evolution continues to do. An expert explains. Read More »
In a new breakthrough, scientists from the US Department of Energy’s Fermilab have found a way to detect dark matter using quantum computers. Dark matter accounts for about 27% of the universe’s material and energy balance, but scientists don’t know much about it. They know it’s cold, which means the particles that make up dark …
US Department of Energy Breakthrough: Detecting Dark Matter with Quantum Computers Read More »
Two views of Saturn’s moon Titan captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The left image uses a filter sensitive to Titan’s lower atmosphere, and the right image is a color composite. At the bottom is an annotated version, showing a few features captured in each image. (NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Pagan (STScI), JWST Titan …
Telescopes team up to predict alien storm on Titan Read More »
An artist’s impression of an active mantle plume – a large mass of hot, floating rock – rising from deep within Mars and pushing Elysium Planitia, a plain in the planet’s northern lowlands. The volcanism at Elysium Planitia originates from the Cerberus Fossae, highlighted in red, a collection of young fissures that stretch more than …
Surprising Martian Discovery: Massive Mantle Plume Pushing Mars Surface Up Read More »
Enlarge / Orion, the Earth and the Moon, captured during the Artemis I mission. Nasa The launch of the Artemis I mission in mid-November was spectacular, and NASA’s Orion spacecraft has performed almost flawlessly ever since. If all goes according to plan – and there’s no reason to believe it won’t – Orion will run …
After the brilliant success of the Artemis I mission, why a recall in 2 years? Read More »
The Moon occasionally moves past all the planets in the solar system, including Mars. Credit: Sergio Scauso What are the highlights of sky observation in December 2022? The moon sweeps away the past Jupiter Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and the fifth planet from the sun. It is a gas giant …
